Opportunities

This new agency will move us closer to ensuring every child has a safe place to call home, no child goes hungry, and youth have the resources and supports to succeed inside and outside of the classroom.

Early childhood programs

DCYF will align early childhood programs – including child care assistance, early learning scholarships, mixed delivery pre-K, and other child care functions like licensing – to streamline and better coordinate child care and early learning services, and improve outcomes for children, families, and the early childhood workforce. Building off recent early childhood system coordination successes, the creation of DCYF will lead to:

• Improved coordination of child care and early learning provider registration, communication, payment, and ongoing regulatory requirements;
• Aligned administration that allows for centralized funding prioritization, including building reimbursement methodologies for child care to better support that critical sector; and
• A common application and entry point for families to apply for and be referred to early childhood programs and services.

Youth investment

The agency will bring together programs for children and youth from intentional prevention to downstream services, creating space for investment in students outside of the classroom and in their community. The agency will lead to:

• Focused investments and out-of-school programs (focusing upstream rather than on downstream public safety and corrections as the only strategies);
• Leadership and aligned outcome measures focused on youth needs across our state systems; and
• Coordination across child welfare, mental health, and detention systems).

Family well-being programs

A goal of the new agency is to elevate in leadership and structure a safety net of programs available to families that keep our Minnesota neighbors safe, healthy, fed and better able to reach their full potential by making sure:

• Economic and food assistance programs remain top priorities so every family and child have easy access to opportunities that are culturally relevant and help them learn, grow and thrive;
• Implementation of unified statewide networks of community resource centers to promote family and community well-being; and
• Our government follows research that points to the importance of a multi-generational approach, focusing services and opportunities for adults who play key roles in the lives of children as the most meaningful, equitable impact.